


First "I'm Sorry"

by Savy_tries_to_be_a_writer



Series: Avengers AU [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Avengers - Freeform, Avengers without IW and Endgame, SHIELD Academy, SHIELD Agent Bucky Barnes, mcu - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-20
Updated: 2020-04-20
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:54:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23751157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Savy_tries_to_be_a_writer/pseuds/Savy_tries_to_be_a_writer
Summary: After they first met, and Barnes quickly managed to piss off his new liaison Agent at S.H.I.E.L.D., he wants to smooth things over before they go on a mission together.He just doesn't want to be thrown under the bus when the first situation arises.
Series: Avengers AU [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1710946
Comments: 1





	First "I'm Sorry"

Kicking the living hell out of a training dummy had the most cathartic effect. Psychologists may well agree on the fact that catharsis was a basically non-existent concept and it actually fuelled negative emotions, but walking out of that dojo with Agent Ken behind her, complimenting Amber on her focus today, felt very empowering.

It was very common for her to come out of the gym feeling calm and relaxed, but today, after that meeting with Rogers, Barnes and Wilson, it felt twice as powerful to be able to hit out her frustrations on the weird gelatine figure. And Agent Ken’s suggestions of angling her hand a certain way and hitting specific pressure points were more than welcome.

Amber would have been lying if she said she didn’t picture any of the men’s faces at different times. Hitting Wilson and Barnes felt particularly joyful. She wouldn’t hold a grudge anymore when sitting on the place to DC together, or during the mission, but for now their remarks were still making her heart beat a bit fast and her blood boil a little warmer than was normal.

So when she saw Barnes standing by the locker room doors, leaning against the bricked wall that separated the male and female locker rooms, and reading a book of all things, Agent Jackson grew a frown on her forehead and cocked her head to the side.

Judging by the title, the book was in Russian, too.

“I thought your quinjet would have already been en-route to the base again?” She asked, using the towel around her neck to wipe the sweat off her face. The redhead took a few steps towards the door to her changing room. The creases were still visible on her forehead.

“Steve and Wilson are sort of waiting for me, I guess. I _hope_ ,” Barnes added, blinking a few times and averting his eyes to mull the idea over in his head. He put a small metal plate connected to a necklace chain between the pages he was on and closed the book on it. _Dogtags_ , Amber recognised with a pang to her heart. She wanted to stay angry at the guy who had made her blood boil just an hour ago, not remember he had had a life filled with making sacrifices once.

Bucky’s human hand combed his hair away from his temple. Amber couldn’t help but stare at the silkiness of the White Wolf’s locks.

_What kind of conditioner do they use in Wakanda_? she wondered. A slight shake of her head made her snap out of her trail of thoughts again.

_Wow_

“Anyways, I wanted to talk to you and … seeing as we’re going to be going on this mission together tonight it only seemed appropriate to, ehm,” he cleared his throat loudly, exaggeratedly. It seemed to take a bit of effort.

“To make sure there’s no hard feelings between us about this afternoon,” he finished. Agent Jackson cocked an eyebrow up at him.

“No hard feelings?”  
She scoffed. Her head dropped to the side and she scratched her scalp for a moment, thinking.

“Look, Sergeant Barnes, you just remember that I’m the senior officer on this trip, and I think we’ll be fine.” Amber pulled the towel from her neck and made for the ladies’ changing room.

After two seconds of regaining himself, Barnes took a step to the side to block her way.   
He hadn’t been called _Sergeant_ since he…sort of died.

“Agent Jackson, I apologize for what I said before. What can I say, I’m from a different era – when I was last myself like this, women weren’t really in the habit of being high-ranking agents in secret government spy organisations” He scratched the back of his head.

Amber raised her eyebrows, anger filling up her chest and head again.

“You worked closely with Agent Romanov, the Black Widow, when she was still a KGB operative. Your rehabilitation was supervised by Princess Shuri of Wakanda, whose technological inventions are – _at least_ \- on par with Tony Stark’s, even though she’s 30 years his junior. You trained with the Wakandan Dora Milaje, the best trained combat fighters in the world _who are exclusively female_ , and don’t carry an official level of any Martial Arts league known to Western civilization because their combat skills _surpass_ them.” She poked a finger at his chest, pushing it in a little bit further with every following breath.

“When Steve Rogers saved your ass from the HYDRA facility in Switzerland, _Agent Peggy Carter_ was there giving Rogers the way in, and she would later come to build and head this ‘secret government spy organisation’ as you call it.

And you _dare_ to play the ‘I was raised in the 30’s so I’m excused for being a bit of a sexist’-card?”  
Agent Jackson took a step back, retracting her finger, eyes trained on Barnes.

His face was turning a slightly pinker colour, his jaw tensed. But his face didn’t look as closed off as it had at one point during the meeting; it was still open, his eyes were focused on Amber, acutely aware of the fire in hers, and his lips remained relaxed.

Bucky was kicking himself for his lame standard-excuse, but his heart sped up for having to think.

“Yeah, I guess that’s not really applicable after all.” He gulped. His eyes wandered to the floor, and he found himself more flustered than he thought he would be.

All he had wanted was to make sure Agent Jackson wouldn’t throw him under the bus first thing, or leave him with the boring tasks during the mission. Plus, Steve’s remark about the wirings of his arm had made him nervous for a reason he couldn’t quite put his finger on but decided was best to resolve.

Agent Jackson tapped her foot once, twice. It made Bucky look back up.

“I’m sorry for what I said, for underestimating you,” he said, and his voice sounded as sincere as his eyes looked.

“I have a feeling Coulson’s planning on teaming you up with us a lot from now on, and something tells me you’re not someone to cross if I value my own peace of mind. Or my limbs or something.”

Bucky cracked a half-smile at her, thinking he’d charmed her into liking him _and_ accepting his apology.

That’s how it had always worked before. _Right_?

Agent Jackson put a hand on Barnes’ fleshy shoulder and pushed him aside firmly.

“Don’t get used to me just yet,” she said, but even as she finished her sentence, she knew he had a point with his guestimation, “cause not if I have a say in it.”

She pushed the door to the locker room open.

“See ya in three hours!” she called behind her, not bothering to turn around to wave Barnes off.

He just grinned at the closed door.

“Oh doll, you just wait.”

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think of this new character, and how true to the original you think I'm depicting the characters!  
> I encourage criticism, I'm here to get better, not be passed over on.


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